DARK MATTER Lightweight

Article originally published as DARK MATTER Review on Seat42F.

SyFy’s DARK MATTER, based on the graphic novel, begins this week feeling very much like a stand-alone episode of a science fiction anthology series. Six people wake up on a generic damaged spaceship with no memory of who they are and what they are doing. Working together, somewhat, they attempt to piece together their identities and mission, which may not be as good an idea as that sounds.

As we first meet the cast, self-named for the order in which they woke up, they seem pretty easy to pigeonhole. There’s One (Marc Bendavid, Hard Rock Medical), the pretty-boy peacemaker. Two (Canadian theatre star Melissa O’Neil) is a natural, fair-minded leader. Three (Anthony Lemke, Good Witch) is the angry one. Four (Alex Mallari Jr., True Justice) has some mad martial arts skills. Five (Jodelle Ferland, The Cabin in the Woods) is a weird, super-intelligent kid. Six (Roger R. Cross, Continuum, 24) is a gentle-leaning giant.

As they begin to figure out their personalities, if not their backstories, muscle memory taking over where they lack, they end up being a pretty bland group. Cross is the only very recognizable member of the ensemble, but in this case, going with unknowns does not pay off. It feels like a cast of second-stringers making a low-budget program that isn’t likely to garner a sizeable American audience.

The most impressive face on screen is that of Zoie Palmer (Lost Girl), who plays The Android that can connect directly with the ship. Aside from a few juicy bits for Ferland, Palmer is the only one who gets to show range and prove why she deserves to be a main player in this show. She brings a mix of coldness and sly humor that make her stand out in an otherwise mediocre group.

The story at the heart of the DARK MATTER pilot doesn’t help matters much. As I mentioned at the start, this feels like an anthology installment, basically a short story with not much momentum to keep it going. The ‘twist’ at the end of the episode could have been tweaked only slightly and this would have been a vaguely interesting, not very memorable, stand-alone hour. To keep this plot going for any length of time, the mystery at the heart of the piece needs to be grand and meaningful. Neither of those adjectives seem to apply here.

The best thing that DARK MATTER has going for it is that it’s on the SyFy channel. While low-quality shows don’t last long on the network (though high-quality ones don’t fare too much better), it is in the right place to find the small segment of the viewership that this will appeal to. Those attracted by the simple narrative, one familiar to the genre, may be interested in this example of it. Plus, given all the cheesy-on-purpose TV movies that will air around this, DARK MATTER may look good by comparison because at least it has a story that seems to make sense and there are no awful, gory effects.

Could DARK MATTER have been better? Absolutely. If it boasted a cast on the level of, say, Firefly, with its magnetic personalities and a deep mythology behind the story, the construct could remain the same and it would improve it a lot. What that means to me is that DARK MATTER itself is not an inherently bad idea, since I see a way it could be really good, but just comes across as poorly executed. That’s a shame, because no one involved seems to be doing a bad job; there’s just an overall blandness to most aspects of the production that cannot be overcome.

DARK MATTER premieres Friday, June 12^th at 10 p.m. ET.

Should you look for the Lost Girl?

     SyFy's newest drama series, Lost Girl, is actually a show at the end of its second season in Canada, where the series is made, which a third ordered. By Americans are only up to episode two, "Where There's a Will, There's a Fae," as of last night. In this installment, Bo (Anna Silk, Being Erica) is asked by a will-o'-the-wisp (Richard McMillan, The Fountain) to recover his lost treasure for a thief. But finding the robber, Michael (Elias Toufexis, Assassin's Creed II), Bo learns that there is more to this situation than a simple robbery. Unfortunately for her, uniting a father and son through the big misunderstanding is a challenge. 

     Lost Girl is not super fantastic or original in the first two episodes. It's sort of a cross between The Nine Lives Of Chloe King and a crime procedural. Obviously, LG predates TNLOCK in production, but since the latter aired first in the states, it doesn't seem like it's so. Both deal with a central female who discovers she has secret parentage, and a whole culture not known to her. Both use a three-letter, two-vowel name of the hidden species (Mai and Fae). The major difference is that Lost Girl is more grown up, and has the case-of-the-week element to it, the second point not exactly being a mark in its favor.

     There is nothing stand out bad about Lost Girl, but nothing awesome about it either. Perhaps it improves, since a third season has been ordered, even though it is just getting started in the U.S. But the mystery service that Kenzie (Ksenia Solo, Life Unexpected, Black Swan) forces Bo into is not necessary. The best parts of the first episodes are Bo learning about the Fae: who they are, how they align themselves, and how she fits into the world. Not only that, but apparently there is some big mystery, where Bo is extremely important in their supernatural world, and she is abandoned as a baby to protect her. It's been done before, but it's also engaging, and the lead actresses are interesting enough to carry that series. Unfortunately, instead of committing to this serial concept, the writers drag out the questions, spending significant amounts of time on a guest star's issues.
     "Where There's a Will, There's a Fae" appears to be setting up the premise. It's not a bad story, though it gets a little hokey. For instance, why does the will-o'-the-wisp send Bo to hunt down his crook, and also sends an assassin? One would think one or the other would serve the purpose, and this second hire seems present only to force Bo into action sequences. However, the misunderstanding between father and son is kinda fun. Then, though, the characters disappear before resolving anything. So overall, the story is uneven and off. And Bo gets a small piece of her puzzle, then goes on with her life.

     What could save Lost Girl, if the procedural elements are down played, is character interaction. Why does Bo take such good care of Kenzie when Bo is seen to be casual about ending other's lives? Setting aside that viewers are expected to buy into this quick turn around, what about Kenzie appeals to Bo such much that it changes her? There has to be something there, more so than just finding another lost soul. Plus, Bo has two love interests, a male cop / vampire named Dyson (Kris Holden-Ried, The Tudors), and a female Fae-expert doctor named Lauren (Zoie Palmer, The Guard), so lots more confusion and gray areas to be dealt with there.

     Will Lost Girl improve? The only way to know is to watch it, airing 10 p.m. ET on SyFy.

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